Tag: lululemon

Lululemon is quickly becoming a Beloved Brand, with an extremely loyal following that love not only how the brand makes them feel (healthy, comfortable, free) but also love the product which is reliable, ethical and of a high quality.

At the core of Lulu’s Brand DNA is Yoga. Yoga has a balance of rational and emotional benefits–and Lulu shares most of those same balances. And now, there’s a growing movement in Ottawa with free Yoga on Canada’s Parliament Hill that has attracted crowds of up to 1,000 people so far with a goal of reaching 5,000 on August 15, 2012. What a great event.

Instructors come from the local Lululemon store and encourage yogis of all skill.

The idea started six years ago as a true grass-roots movement with six people taking their yoga mats up to Parliament Hill. Classes are every Wednesday, from 12 noon to 1pm throughout the summer. So get out there!

Every Lululemon store offers free yoga classes. They close down the store, throw down the mats and go to it. Lulu has also come up with innovative “pop up” Yoga classes and has an on-line program called “Gift of Yoga” with 20 minute yoga class videos on you tube.

Lululemon has been staying true to the Brand DNA and has carefully expanded the brand without going too far, too fast. As a result of being authentic the brand, Lulu has managed to connect powerfully with their consumers. Without a lot of advertising spend, Lulu’s success comes from word-of-mouth and experience with the brand. That makes events like the Parliament Hill yoga classes even more powerful. With revenue at $1 Billion, more than double two years ago and four times the size it was back in 2008. While most brands expand with a focus on revenue now and profits later, Lulu has done it the smart way, seeing profit margins going up steadily during the growth, going from 13% in 2010 up to 18.3% in 2012. That’s a sign of a powerfully connected brand and intelligent brand expansion that other brands can learn from.

To learn more about this type of thinking, you should explore my new book, Beloved Brands.

With Beloved Brands, you will learn everything you need to know so you can build a brand that your consumers will love.

You will learn how to think strategically, define your brand with a positioning statement and a brand idea, write a brand plan everyone can follow, inspire smart and creative marketing execution and analyze the performance of your brand through a deep-dive business review.

Beloved Brands: Who are we?

At Beloved Brands, our purpose is to help brands find a new pathway to growth. We believe that the more love your brand can generate with your most cherished consumers, the more power, growth, and profitability you will realize in the future.

We think the best solutions are likely inside you already, but struggle to come out. Our unique playbook tools are the backbone of our workshops. We bring our challenging voice to help you make decisions and refine every potential idea.

We start by defining a brand positioning statement, outlining the desired target, consumer benefits and support points the brand will stand behind. And then, we build a brand idea that is simple and unique enough to stand out in the clutter of the market, motivating enough to get consumers to engage, buy and build a loyal following with your brand.

We will help you write a strategic brand plan for the future, to get everyone in your organization to follow. It starts with an inspiring vision that pushes your team to imagine a brighter future. We use our strategic thinking tools to help you make strategic choices on where to allocate your brand’s limited resources.